0

Why exactly do light rays bend towards the normal as it travels from an optically rarer to denser medium, and similarly, why do they bend away from the normal as they move from optically denser to a rarer medium? I know its something to do with the change in speed of the light wave due to a change in wavelength, but I just can't seem to understand at all as to why the light rays bend in the direction which they do.

Qmechanic
  • 201,751
Ashiq Ibrahim
  • 13
  • 2
    You can get an idea of what is going on from realizing that the wave fronts don't hit the barrier all-at-once. If the waves are hitting at an angle, one side hits before the other. So one side changes speed earlier. So think about what happens with one side of the wave at one speed and the other side at another. – Dan Jan 19 '22 at 19:45
  • Possible duplicate: https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/165611/2451 – Qmechanic Jan 19 '22 at 20:10

0 Answers0